Zu Definition, AG Duos orCoincident Total Victory?

I have heard the Duo's and Def's on a 700.00 Exposure intergrated 40 watt per channel, and it was excellent, not the best but excellent... However I will say that Tubes in the chain are always nice Period! A sweet tube pre with good but resonable priced Solid state like a mccormack, or the new First Watt amps are no slouch either.

Writers claiming that Zu speakers do not work well with solid state gear simply don't know of what they speak. I'm running a pair of Defs with both Art Audio PX-25 SET mono blocks and Pass XA-60 Class A mono blocks. The Definitions sound marvelous with both; there is no "clinical" or "analytical" character with the Pass amps. Actually they do a substantially better job at the bottom end (40hz-100hZ) than SET tube amps. Unless the previous posters have tried good solid state amplification it is both unwise and unfair to dismiss it.

I forgot to clarify, LOWER cost like 800-1500.00 used or possibly new solid state amps can work well with Zu, even people these days are using the Nuforce 1200.00 mono's I guess with very good results. Sorry to offend the tube God's, but I do always agree a good tube pre is needed.

I run my Druids with a HT receiver as the preamp and Flying Mole 100 Watt SS monoblock amps (modded with Hexfred and Cree diodes, better coupling caps, better binding posts, bypassed volume controls, etc.) and they sound very good to me. But I'm planning on getting a Modwright 9.0 tubed linestage to replace the receiver very soon. Should sweeten up the system considerably, but it's no slouch right now. The Flying Moles are very nice amps for the money.

My Druids began life in my home with a PS Audio combo, PCA-2 and HCA-2. I understand the HCA-2 is one of the amps in the Zu boys' stable. While I like the amp very much as a value for money, I felt it did not do the Druids justice, and have since moved irrevocably into tubes. It's interesting about the sound; when you are listening it does not feel like it is analytical and in fact feels a touch warm. But change amps and the speaker communicates the nature of that amp right away; it is shockingly obvious. I have tried 6-7 tubed amps and each time their nature has been clearly revealed.